Category: surrogacy

‘Olivia Stiles, an associate at Kingsley Napley, looks at the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 (Remedial) Order 2018, which came into force on 3 January and permits single applicants to apply for Parental Orders in respect of their biological children born through surrogacy.’

‘Since May 2016, prospective single applicants for parental orders for surrogate children have waited with bated breath for the change in the law that permits them to make their applications, independent of their relationship status. At the end of last year, it was announced that a remedial order to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 (HFEA 2008) had been placed before Parliament. However, five months have now passed and the question remains whether we are any closer to change.’

‘A parental order is the UK legal solution for surrogacy; it is a post-birth court order which makes the intended parents the legal parents of their child and permanently extinguishes the status of the surrogate and her spouse. Parents through surrogacy who want to be the legal parents of their child in the UK need one, wherever they live and whether their child is born in the UK or overseas.’

‘Your most pressing concern if you have a baby born through international surrogacy may be how quickly you can get home after he or she is born. This is often the first question we get asked when advising parents planning overseas surrogacy. UK immigration law in surrogacy cases is complex because there is no clear single process which applies to everyone, everywhere. There are number of different possible paths and which is the best one for you will depend on your personal circumstances and the country in which your baby is born.’

‘The legal media was quick to jump on the case of Re X (A Child – Foreign Surrogacy) [2018] EWFC 15) to highlight the reference in Sir James Munby’s judgment to the sexual relationship (or rather, the lack of one) in the marriage between the two applicants in this case of a parental order application following a surrogacy arrangement. Very little information as to the parties’, their child’s or their surrogate’s personal circumstances is given in the judgment, although those wishing for details will no doubt have been left reeling for more from the information that was given: the parties are married yet one is gay (the judgment implies that the other is not) and that at least some if not all of their time is spent living in different homes.’

‘Is consummation necessary to render a marriage valid? “Yes”, assumed non-specialist ignoramuses (like me): “No”, says the President of the Family Division.
In X (A Child: foreign surrogacy) [2018] EWFC 15, Sir James Munby P had been asked to make a parental order in accordance with s.54 of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008, which requires that the applicants “must be … husband and wife”.’

‘Andrew Powell, barrister of 4 Paper Buildings, considers recent developments relating to surrogacy law, including new guidance, as well as the latest cases concerning administrative errors and the HFEA.’

‘Since the first UK surrogacy case hit the headlines in 1985 with the birth of Baby Cotton, surrogacy law has been evolving in the UK, and indeed throughout the world. As the pool of adoptable babies continues to shrink, the growth of surrogacy as a means of supporting childless couples to start their families is a trend that is likely to continue.’

‘Given the nebulous nature of surrogacy law in the UK and the decision in Briody v St Helen’s and Knowsley Area Health Authority [2001] EWCA Civ 1010, [2001] 2 FLR 1094, with its confusing obiter dicta, it is somewhat surprising that the funding of surrogacy for an infertile young woman was included in the heads of damages in the decision in XX v Whittington Hospital Trust [2017] EWHC 2318 (QB).’

‘The Court of Appeal decision in Re H (Surrogacy Breakdown) [2017] EWCA 1798 (Civ) this week has confirmed that the ordinarily principles of children’s law, and the fundamental question of: What is in the best interests of the child? apply in relation to surrogacy in the ordinary way. There are no special rules or considerations which apply in the case of surrogacy disputes.’

‘The case concerned two couples A and B, male same-sex partners, and C and D, a heterosexual married couple. C and D had 5 children of their own. C, having been a gestational surrogate on two previous occasions, entered into a surrogacy agreement with A and B. C became pregnancy with H following embryo transfer. (using embryos created from A and B’s sperm and a donor egg from a Spanish egg donor which resulted in C’s pregnancy with H. A DNA test later confirmed A’s paternity.)’

‘They say that nothing can prepare you for the sheer overwhelming experience of what it means to be a parent. But how would you feel if that opportunity was taken away from you because of the negligent action of someone else? In the recent case of XX v Whittington Hospital NHS Trust [2017] EWHC 2318 (QB), XX received £74,000 for the cost of two surrogacies in the UK. This was because XX was unable to bear children as a direct consequence of her delayed diagnosis of cervical cancer.’

‘In the case of Re B (Foreign Surrogacy) [2016] EWFC 77, High Court judge Mrs Justice Theis made a parental order in respect of a child born following a surrogacy arrangement in India in 2010 – six years after the usual six month deadline, and notwithstanding that the parents had previously decided against applying.’

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